Nokkelost, but not forgotten.

Similar to Dutch Leiden, Nokkelost is a semi-hard cow’s milk cheese with a creamy texture and thin natural rind. Flavored with cumin, caraway seeds, and cloves, it is a bit spicy, nutty and tangy in taste. In other words? It’s a lot like this newsletter. Today’s cheddlines you need2know, meanwhile, are in many cases things you might like to forget:

Today's Cheddlines You Need2Know

• Social Security Head Steps Down Over DOGE Access

• Mexico Awaits New Response from Google on Gulf

• Huawei’s Tri-Foldable Phone Hits Global Markets

• Report: Israel Using US-made AI Models in War

• All Survive As Delta Jet Flips Upside Down

Stay safe out there, cheddheads.

—Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor

P.S. Watch robots play soccer on our ‘gram!

Quote of the Day

Should You Check Your 401(k) Today?

👍

(yep)

Social Security Head Steps Down Over DOGE Access

The Social Security Administration's acting commissioner, Michelle King, has resigned after over 30 years of government service following her refusal to grant Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to sensitive Social Security recipient information.

King’s departure took place over the weekend, and a White House spokesperson confirmed President Trump's intention to nominate a replacement. Concerns have been raised regarding the DOGE's potential unlawful access to private taxpayer information, as it has already accessed Treasury payment systems and is trying to access Internal Revenue Service databases.

Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, an advocacy group for the preservation of Social Security benefits, said of DOGE's efforts that "there is no way to overstate how serious a breach this is. And my understanding is that it has already occurred.”

“The information collected and securely held by the Social Security Administration is highly sensitive," she said. "SSA has data on everyone who has a Social Security number, which is virtually all Americans, everyone who has Medicare, and every low-income American who has applied for Social Security’s means-tested companion program, Supplemental Security Income."

The future of Social Security has become a top political issue and was a major point of contention in the 2024 election. About 72.5 million people — including retirees, disabled people, and children — receive Social Security benefits.

To be clear: Elon Musk does not claim social security benefits, but he has claimed without offering evidence that he has found people aged 150 drawing them.

Mexico Awaits New Response from Google on Gulf

Mexico said Monday it’s awaiting a new response from Google to its request that the tech company fully restore the name Gulf of Mexico to its Google Maps service before filing a lawsuit.

President Claudia Sheinbaum shared a letter addressed to her government from Cris Turner, Google’s vice president of government affairs and public policy. It says that Google will not change the policy it outlined after the president declared the body of water the Gulf of America.

“We will wait for Google’s response and if not, we will proceed to court,” Sheinbaum said Monday during a morning press briefing.

Something tells me she could be waiting a while.

Along with the legal threat to Google, the Mexican president also announced Monday that Mexico and the U.S. would hold high-level meetings this week on trade and security in an effort to maintain a “long-term plan of collaboration" between the two countries.

From @cheddar

cheddar

View more on Instagram

Huawei’s Tri-Foldable Phone Hits Global Markets

Huawei on Tuesday held a global launch for the industry’s first tri-foldable phone, which analysts said marked a symbolic victory for the Chinese tech giant amid U.S. technology curbs. However, challenges over pricing, longevity, supply, and app constraints may limit its success.

Huawei said at a launch event in Kuala Lumpur that the Huawei Mate XT, first unveiled in China five months ago, will be priced at $3,662. Although dubbed a trifold, the phone has three mini-panels and folds only twice. My sense is that still makes it a trifold, no? Like, a trifold has two folds and three pieces?

The company says it's the thinnest foldable phone at 3.6 millimeters (0.14 inches), with a 10.2-inch screen similar to an Apple iPad.

“Right now, Huawei kind of stands alone as an innovator" with the trifold design, said Bryan Ma, vice president of device research with the market intelligence firm International Data Corporation.

Huawei reached the position despite “not getting access to chips, to Google services. All these things basically have been huge roadblocks in front of Huawei,” Ma said, adding that the “resurgence we're seeing from them over the past year has been quite a bit of a victory."

American officials say Huawei is a security risk, which the company denies. No word yet on how the Gulf of Mexico, I mean, America, er…Taiwan…will be described on the trifold phone’s maps, either.

Report: Israel Using US-made AI Models in War

U.S. tech giants have quietly empowered Israel to track and kill many more alleged militants more quickly in Gaza and Lebanon through a sharp spike in artificial intelligence and computing services. On the other hand, the number of civilians killed has also soared, fueling fears that these tools are contributing to the deaths of innocent people.

Militaries have for years hired private companies to build custom autonomous weapons. However, Israel's recent wars mark a leading instance in which commercial AI models made in the U.S. have been used in active warfare, despite concerns that they were not originally developed to help decide who lives and who dies.

The Israeli military uses AI to sift through vast troves of intelligence, intercepted communications, and surveillance. The AI is supposed to find suspicious speech or behavior and learn the movements of its enemies. After a deadly surprise attack by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, its use of Microsoft and OpenAI technology skyrocketed, an Associated Press investigation found.

The AP’s investigation also revealed new details of how AI systems select targets and ways they can go wrong, including faulty data or flawed algorithms. It was based on internal documents, data, and exclusive interviews with Israeli officials as well as company employees.

“This is the first confirmation we have gotten that commercial AI models are directly being used in warfare,” said Heidy Khlaaf, chief AI scientist at the AI Now Institute and former senior safety engineer at OpenAI. “The implications are enormous for the role of tech in enabling this type of unethical and unlawful warfare going forward.”

All Survive As Delta Jet Flips Upside Down

A Delta Air Lines jet flipped on its roof while landing Monday at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, but all 80 people on board survived and those hurt had relatively minor injuries, the airport’s chief executive said.

Snow blown by winds gusting to 40 mph (65 kph) swirled when the flight from Minneapolis carrying 76 passengers and four crew attempted to land at around 2:15 p.m.

Communications between the tower and pilot were normal on approach, and it's not clear what went so drastically wrong when the plane touched down — apart from the plane ending up on its roof, that is.

Peter Carlson, a passenger traveling to Toronto for a paramedics’ conference, said the landing was “very forceful.”

“All the sudden everything just kind of went sideways and then next thing I know it’s kind of a blink and I’m upside down still strapped in,” he told CNC News.

Canadian authorities held two brief news conferences but provided no details on the crash. Video posted to social media showed the aftermath with the Mitsubishi CRJ-900LR overturned, the fuselage seemingly intact and firefighters dousing what was left of the fire as passengers climbed out and walked across the tarmac.